Three colleges in Chicago spent more per graduate of all Illinois two-year schools during the 2016 academic year, according to the latest data compiled from U.S. Department of Education and Illinois State Comptroller tracking the performance and spending at 48 Illinois community colleges.

Eight counties in Southern Illinois are among 24 statewide that are violating the National Voter Registration Act, according to the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, which sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections recently.

When the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) scheduled a strike vote earlier this year, many viewed the move as another tactic orchestrated by the union to prevent Gov. Bruce Rauner from imposing his last, best offer.

Citing a 'delicate time' for Illinois, State Rep. Terri Bryant (R-Murphysboro) recently voiced support of the pending House Bill 1787, legislation that would guarantee state employees steady paychecks regardless of the state’s assets or liabilities.

Not all Illinois public employees who are members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) are gung-ho and in lockstep with the government-worker union's negotiating tactics.

Renewing his commitment to keep an eye on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) recently accepted a six-year renewal of his post leading the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment Subcommittee.

Terming the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) an “800-pound gorilla at the negotiating table,” the Illinois Policy Institute recently examined the relationship between the union and Illinois workers, suggesting that the balance of power tends to tilt toward the union.

In a victory for Gov. Bruce Rauner and his administration, the Illinois Labor Relations Board ruled in a 5-0 vote on Nov. 15 that the state and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) have reached an impasse in their contract negotiations.

Nationally, the unemployment rate for black Americans stands at 8.1 percent, which is higher than the national average of all Americans; but Illinois has the highest black unemployment rate in the entire country at 15 percent.

In the overwhelming majority of states, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) provides benefits to families with an illegal immigrant wage earner in it while denying benefits to an identical family of American citizens having the same income, according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS).

With the welfare system falling apart, it may be time to look at the possibility of a basic income for every American, a concept that has been championed by well-known economists and political scientists of the past and present including Milton Friedman, Friedrich Hayek and Charles Murray.